Zelensky in The Hague: Ukraine is forming multi-level security guarantees
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said during meetings in The Hague that Russian leader Vladimir Putin is trying to use every metre of Ukrainian territory as an argument in future negotiations and therefore ignores the scale of his army's losses.
The situation at the front and Russian losses
According to Zelenskyy, Russia is conducting extremely fierce assaults and is simultaneously trying to create a false impression of the situation at the front. At the same time, Ukrainian units are holding their positions even during massive attacks. The President reminded that every month the Russian army loses about 30,000 killed, but these figures do not affect the Kremlin's decisions.
Security guarantee blocks for Ukraine
Zelenskyy said that Ukraine, together with its partners, is considering several interrelated blocks of security guarantees. The first area is the Coalition of the Willing, which includes more than 30 countries. Among them are not only European countries, but also Canada and Japan, which demonstrate their willingness to participate in security decisions, taking into account their own constitutional restrictions.
The second key block, the President called bilateral guarantees from the United States. This is a mechanism similar to NATO Article Five, which must be legally binding and approved by the US Congress. Zelensky stressed that these should be fundamentally different guarantees than the Budapest Memorandum.
EU and support on the ground
Zelenskyy called the European Union a separate element of security guarantees. He sees Ukraine's membership in the EU as an economic and security basis for future stability.
The President also said that some countries of the Coalition of the Willing are ready to provide support on the ground after the ceasefire. The details of this plan are not disclosed, as its implementation is possible only after the active phase of hostilities is over. The document is being coordinated by France and the United Kingdom.
